In hindsight, I should have shared this recipe with you a month ago. The real story, though, is that I’ve been perfecting my recipe skills and I only just got this right on the morning of Thanksgiving. The good news is, you can cook this for Christmas and Easter and any other Tuesday you’ve got a craving!
I’ve been enjoying this particular cornbread dressing for the last nineteen years. First, Josh’s grandmother Ruby made it for us and, later, his mom took over the responsibility. I borrowed the recipe pretty early in our marriage, but Josh is quick to point out when his mom has me beat in the kitchen. This is one that I could always get close, but never quite right. It turns out, I made a few critical errors when transcribing the recipe. Since my recipe box is still in storage, I asked his mom to text it to me the night before Thanksgiving. After reading through her notes, I realized I was skimping on two ingredients (broth and eggs). After I pulled this batch from the oven and took my first bite, I did a few mental high jumps because I have finally conquered the best dressing in town.
When you see the recipe, you’ll start to question how it is so life changing. There are very few ingredients and none of them are very spectacular on their own. I promise you that, no matter what you’re thinking, this cornbread dressing will exceed all of your expectations.
Ruby always said, that when you think you’ve added enough pepper — add some more. Ella’s arm was getting a little tired at this point, so I made a second pass with the pepper mill once she was done. She loves to help me in the kitchen these days. In addition to being a huge help with this particular recipe, she loves making homemade macaroni and cheese, prepping breakfast, and whipping up a delicious Kentucky Derby Pie. I’ll have to share that recipe with you later this month — it’s a winner, too!
I typically double my recipe because we have a very large family and if you do that, you’ll want to purchase one of those large aluminum casserole dishes. Otherwise, you’ll need two (or three) standard 9×12 baking dishes. The dish is where my other error comes into play — I was always filling my dish too deep?!
Enjoy this printable version of our favorite holiday recipe!
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8 servings
- Large loaf of cornbread
- 4-6 slices of white bread
- 2 cups of boiled chicken pieces
- 4-6 cups of steaming chicken broth
- ¾ small onion, finely grated
- 5 eggs beaten
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Cook cornbread in a cast iron skillet, remove dark crust
- Crumble cornbread in a large bowl (I use my food processor for this!)
- Remove crust from white bread and completely cover cornbread
- Pour steaming hot chicken broth over bread until the bread is completely covered
- Stir to incorporate
- Salt + Pepper well (remember what Ruby said about pepper!)
- Add ½ to ¾ of finely grated onion, eggs + chicken pieces
- Mix well
- Pour into any pan, but no thicker than 1 to 1.5 inches deep
- Bake at 375* until brown on top (45-60 minutes)
